There was no way that he would be able to pull of working his birthday. Ever sense Phoebe figured out the date the girls would barely let him set foot in the shop. It was frustrating what is another birthday to a man that had countless? Then again they didn’t know that so he just pouted the night before and said ‘ it’s just 31 not like it’s a big deal’ he wondered when there would be a an age he hit that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. He could just hope that people wouldn’t be perceptive enough, or care enough. Only time would tell.

It was just another day. He would rather be working or spending time with Tahlia. It was a shock when he learned that she was just as head over heels as he was. Tahlia was like his miracle cure. She seemed to make all the things that haunted him melt away when she was around. He could only hope that this would last. Dekker still had a thing that was creeping into the back of his head that forever would be too long for Tahlia.

She was a woman who was admired. Men and woman threw themselves at her. Why should she just limit herself to him? Dekker would do his best to just let himself enjoy her while she was his. A broken heart didn’t sound very appealing. Dekker just hoped that Tahlia would never do that. All the declaration of love in the world, he had been around long enough to know that even the most loving couples fail.

He had some work to do though and not even the other’s could say no to it. Paper work was possibly the most tedious part of owning his own shop, but it had to be done. Sure it would have been easier of he moved the documents to a computer. Dekker didn’t like computers. They confused him they were unreliable. Even cell phones were a pain. Dekker just stuck with the paper was more reliable thing. No one seemed to question it. Whenever he needed something done with a computer he would ask one of the girls. They seemed happy to help as if he was too busy to bother with something so simple. It helped that he had a decent library for reference.

Dekker got up that night and took his time getting ready. He gathered all the paper work he needed to take down to the shop. He could hear the music playing from below. Something modern , the stuff they put on while he was out. Dekker walked down the stairs and into the shop with a smile. First the piercer tried to protest. He simply shook his head and insisted that he wouldn’t be there late. Dekker went about his business behind the front counter. Filling out a few thing and filing. He went about checking on supplies and making note of what he needed to have called in.

That was when she walked in. Tahlia in her heels and red lips. Her hair was done up perfectly as always and of course Dekker had a smile on his face that he couldn’t hide even if he tried. “Hey Darlin’ it’s a surprise to see you here. “Dekker spoke walking over to her and then planting a quick kiss on her lips.

Whenever he saw the red headed vampiress he could feel his heart flip around. It was difficult to not show his feelings outright. Years he went with not letting her know how she had captured his attention so completely. She was the only one who quieted his lamenting over the human he had to slaughter because of what he was overpowered the love she claimed to have.

Even with the doubts he knew that he would never want any other woman by his side. She would be his everything for the rest of their forever’s. Her kisses where intoxicating, waking up next to her was perfect. Dekker would learn to accept what her business did and the men that were around her. She was coming home to him and that spoke volumes for someone like Tahlia. Dekker knew that.

He had honestly forgot that he had told her his birthday. Dekker never expected her to care enough about a little date that really no longer mattered in the grand scheme of things. “I suppose it is.” He laughed. It seemed that he would never be able to escape the anniversary of his birth.

Dekker wrapped Tahlia up in his arms and then arched a brow. “I wasn’t expecting to do anything different tonight….it’s just another day Darlin’.” Never would he expect that she would plan something for him. He knew that the girls in the shop, now witnessing this beautiful woman saying that he needed to celebrate, wouldn’t let him stay. “Let me just put away the last couple papers and then we can get outta here, deal?” Dekker reluctantly let his arms drop from around his girlfriend and quickly went to what he said he was going to do.

The papers were quickly put in their proper place. Dekker was back by the red head’s side. “I guess I am gonna be going out and…’celebrating in style’. Have a good night and make sure the alarm is set and doors locked when ya leave. Thanks.” He said to the girls and then led Tahlia out the front door.

Once they were outside he turned to the woman and took her hand. “So what do you have planned?” He asked accusingly, but never dropping the smile that he couldn’t ever hide when she was around. Dekker didn’t have the slightest idea what she would have up her sleeve.

Dekker never concerned himself with what other’s did in their pasts. According to him everyone had done something regrettable weather they were willing to admit it or not. Often times it was because simply that was where their lives had taken them and there was no way around it. Like war. It was a setting where an eighteen year old was given a helmet some boots and a gun and told it was okay to kill someone just like you sitting there on the other side because it was for your country. You were told they were the bad guy so it was okay.

Yes that group had done wrong, but just like you they had been give the same speech, it is for your country and your people to make them better and stronger. More often times than not the men that were on the opposite side hadn’t done the actual wrong thing. The dog tags around his neck held a weight that would always be there. Dekker liked to remind himself of his wrongs. He never wanted to let himself think he was a better man than anyone else. Even if the way Tahlia looked at him was like he was the best damn person that walked this planet.

She seemed to accept all the things that made him too nostalgic for his own good. She seemed to want to know his time that he held so closely. Tahlia might have told Dekker there were some thing that needed to be let go or else you would go mad, but she never expected him to forget where he came from. Dahlia was the same way, but Dekker figured that the dark haired woman that had introduced him to the night said that because like him she very much never changed with the times. Tahlia on the other hand told him these things because she understood that if he ever did just let it all go and get forgotten with time Dekker would no longer be himself, that man that seemed to capture her completely.

Birthdays though, that was something that Dekker never figured his red haired lover would ever concern herself with. The day he was born never seemed to make a difference to him. Just that he could be drafted when Uncle Sam needed him most. “I reckon you are right, another year older, don’t suppose you got me a cake with all those candles on top?” He grinned and teased her.

As he finished up his work he kept an eye on his girlfriend. She looked over everything, mostly the other woman in the shop. Sure she knew how important his employees were to him, but that wouldn’t stop her from throwing a few carefully chosen words their way. It seemed that Tahlia was playing nice, possibly only for his sake and especially because it was his birthday.

They were out of the shop quickly, the night was young and not often a time he was out on the streets. It felt strange to have so much time before the sun threatened to ruin their night. He often times wondered how hard it would be to raise the sun around the world hope from place to place as the earth rotated around, never quite making it to sunrise.

Her kiss was quick and Dekker gladly fallowed her down the street hand in hand. “I’m shocked you went through the trouble just for me,” He grinned. Actually he was flattered. Dekker had somehow found a place in the heart of Tahlia Bellerose of all people.

“I don’t see what the big deal is….and there are two humans, as long as everyone does their job well then it is no difference to me what they are.” He knew there was something about the girl, but her talent meant more to him that whatever she could have been. Dahlia had brought it up more than once, she made a big fuss about it after the dinner party he had with all of the shop crew. Dekker let the woman go on, he washed the furniture so that she could stop her ranting about it. The silly feud there was between creatures was not a fight Dekker cared to involve himself with. Besides it wasn’t like the people that worked beside him knew what he was. A vampire tattooing, he was sure that the idea itself seemed silly enough to convince them otherwise. With all that blood that was involved and all.

The first guess Dekker had was that she was going to have him take them back to Paris. He had this hunch that she was going to show him around the city she loved so much and try and talk him into spending at least more time there. No she would never really make him qui his business but Dekker could see her trying to get him to get a second home there where he could stay when he had the nights off.

What the other’s never seemed to grasp was that Paris was a very different place to him. Not that it would ever be this torn up place the Germany would be to him but there were memories in Paris that he would rather not live with. Just like when he left America. There were just things that time had not soothed over yet.

Of course Dekker understood what a relationship with Tahlia entitled. Their endless lives meant that they could be hand in hand for eternity. Dekker wasn’t scared by that idea, in fact he was prepared for the long hall. He could only hope that she was too. If things didn’t work out….Dekker couldn’t say that he would be okay with being around Tahlia. Sure there were things that he didn’t take much stalk in, but when it came into giving someone his heart and soul he went all in. When that trust and love was broken it hurt him to the core, more than anything ever could. Those were the problems he ran from. She would run from Tahlia if she did ever give up on him. Lock himself in his shop and just focus on his art.

They could never have a normal family. Children weren’t an option. A fledgling, yes, but Dekker was pretty sure he didn’t want to condemn someone to the life that he had to lead. Where as he had no qualms with what he was it wasn’t fair to force someone into a life that was ruled by the night and blood.

Dekker just rolled his eyes. He was sure she knew how much he could turn that little joke around. Dekker liked to think of himself as a gentlemen though and would never actually make poke fun at his girlfriend’s age. Besides what was an age to a vampire anyway. She looked ravishing and always would.


“Presents….Tahlia you know the only thing I need is you,” What else could he possably want anyway. He had a home his shop and his girl. She was just stumping him with all of this. No doubt anything that came of this night would be a surprise because he simply couldn’t think of single thing that she could have gotten him.

As they walked down the street he wasn’t sure where they were going. Sure he knew the street but nothing that could count for a birthday surprise down this way. “She had some choice words. “ He chuckled. “But I have my own powers of persuasion when it comes to Dahlia.” Obviously or Niqui would not still be working with him. As much as Dekker did not want to admit it. Dahlia would always have a heavy influence on anything Dekker did.

He looked over the building they walked up to. He had no idea they had even made something of it. The last time Dekker had been this way the place they were now entering was just abandoned. Dekker limped into the club and stood just beyond the doorway taking it all in. If he needed to breath he would be hard pressed to find any air right now. Everything was like when he was a boy.

When the band kicked on his normal grin was just a soft smile. She had done it with just the first surprise that he could only assume was going to be a string of them. He felt week at the knee and was stuck standing where he was. He missed home. He missed being a teenager. But if he were back there he wouldn’t be next to Tahlia, the woman he was sure was the whole reason the universe kept him alive this long. And he would gladly go through it all again if he knew that he would always get to have her in the end. “This…is..too much….” His voice caught in his throat.

Dekker couldn’t remember ever a time he was spoiled rotten. Maybe his early birthdays, before the economy took a down fall. He didn’t live life lavishly despite the gold and lace, marble, and silk that decorated both his apartment and shop. That was all Dahlia. He lived amongst it but it wasn’t for him. Dekker would be fine with a loft. Just a bed, shower and place to make art.

He smirked glancing down at her. “Of course, as if I had an evil bone in my body,” He spoke bad. Dekker knew that Tahlia still got nervous when he spoke of his relationship with Dahlia. It was the same when Lucian came up. He knew how fiercely the other man protected Tahlia. It was bothersome. They both understood the bond between maker and progeny. It didn’t quell the jealousy. Sometimes it made it worse for Dekker. Still they both were trying to take it in stride, for each other.

She was bound to make him fall to his knees and break down at this rate. If this was only the beginning what more could she possibly do for him? How much more perfect could this red haired woman be? Dekker simply looked at her with large brown eyes. The universe was bound and determined to bring them together. With every passing day he got to spend with Tahlia he was sure of it.

He fallowed her slowly over to the table. The music surrounded him. Even though these were just kids mimicking a style that was so much older than them they had it right. The upright bass, the four piece drum set. All of it was perfect and he had no idea how she had managed to pull it off.

A waitress came over and as the band finished. Popcorn. He looked at the bag quizzically. He couldn’t remember the last time he had that. Had Tahlia ever actually gotten to have popcorn. There was no way he could ever top this….how unfair was that. Then again, Dekker wasn’t sure that something like this would be appropriate for Tahlia. She always seemed to flow into every new decade that came along not helplessly pine for her past like him.

A screen rolled down and instantly Dekker recognized the opening of the movie. He was a teenager when it came out. For one of his birthdays, in fact, he and a group of friends went to the theater. It was like some childish group date thing, but he didn’t actually like the girl he had gotten paired with.

Dekker turned to Tahlia and kissed her on the cheek. “You really did think of everything…” Suddenly the popcorn made sense. She wanted to turn this from a club to their own little private theater. The smell of popcorn, the silver screen. This time he was head over heels for the girl next to him. “How did you even begin to think of all this.” She knew so much about him and Dekker couldn’t even begin to think of anything he could remember Tahlia telling him. Sure he was confidant that he knew what she liked, but nothing that could ever render her speechless like she had done him.

They would speak about the what ifs. If they had met in his time, both human again as teenagers, or maybe younger. They could have gone to these clubs. She could have taught him how to jive. They danced now, yes, but obviously Dekker wasn’t as light on his feet as he used to be. Being a vampire took away the dull pain that used to be there in his knee and his hip but it didn’t do much for his walking.

Tahlia never seemed to notice that he moved differently. She would dance with him dispite how simple it was. He knew that she was a beautiful dancer. She deserved a ball room and a flowing gown, strings singing out a song so she can be whisked across the floor. A strong partner who was also just as graceful. She could glide across a floor with spins with ease. Dekker couldn’t exactly be that dance partner but they could do simple dances to swing and jazz. Two step to doo wop.

Dekker liked to watch Tahlia move on her own though. There were small moments when she would get ready that she would sway and twirl around to the music that he had set playing on the record player. She moved differently than the girls she had on her stage at the doll house. As much as it might be a rare thing Dekker had been to the doll house, more than once. He had seen a show, one staring Dahlia. He enjoyed it, yes, but it would never compare to the little dances that he caught Tahlia doing as she was getting ready for her day. She never needed the flick of her hip and wink to cause him to be absolutely enamored with her. Dekker loved the playful natural movements that happened when she didn’t know he was looking. Those movements would always him begging for her. Hoping that she didn’t mind being late to work because he couldn’t handle just letting her leave without him showering her in admiration.

He looked down at the popcorn and at the screen. Dekker took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. He often wondered if she had even walked through his life before he was turned. If she had spotted some little punk kid on the streets of Georgia and just smirked at him. Maybe she could have even seen him after he came back from war. Someone much darker, wounded not only physically but emotionally. Then he was discovering his passion, the thing that he was missing when he was young. What would she have thought if she did see him then, just another human that was sure to die off with his generation. Surely not that they would end up hand in hand watching an old movie at a jazz club in London.

“There is no way I couldn’t,” He kissed her again, on the top of her head when she leaned against his shoulder. “I can’t wait for an eternity experiencing everything with you Darlin’” He looked to the screen. The famiulure scenes played out in front of him. He was a very different person from when he had first seen the film. Back then he didn’t care about the movie. His friends and him joked and threw popcorn at each other the whole time. Despite not really liking the girl he would give her attention too, instead of taking an adventure along the yellow brick road. It was like he was watching the movie for the first time. It was perfect because Tahlia was next to him.

Dekker never really understood what Tahlia saw in him. What any woman saw in him actually. He was every bit the same rebellious little boy he used to be, it just wasn’t as obvious as it used to be because he got to do what he wanted as a career. His aggression could be explained away with a flash of his fangs. The people around his were all misfits too so he didn’t stick out. Honorable is what they said. Honor was something he was sure he had but he would protect the people he cared about. Dekker didn’t want to lose his family the one that time and damnation had brought him. The difference between how he used to be and now was mostly the time.

Time had not only brought him a family, a lovely woman, but also acceptance. That was the thing he had been missing for a long time. When he was young and dumb he always felt like he was losing time. Now he had all the time in the world so there was no reason to trip and fall through life.

Dekker was happy that Tahlia had a mind for taking time off. He had not been staying as late at the shop now he actually spent his days off at home instead of in his office or around the shop. Before he had tattooing. Sundown to sun up it was tattooing, and art. He called it dedication. It wasn’t a bad thing, all the time he spent with his art, but he needed a break, a breath of fresh air. Tahlia was just that. She gave him a new look on life. Dekker had no idea that he had needed it, he had needed her, as much as he did until it happened.

“I love you too, Tahlia,” the intensity of his words matching her own. He always loved her. From the moment he saw her. He tried finding solace in a human girl who he thought was everything he thought he wanted. That girl ending in nothing but bloodshed and rage. It was stupid to want. Dekker had known that from the start and now that girl was dead. Tahlia made it better. He could shake off his sins and she would take them away. He would do the same for her. He knew there was a lot that Tahlia didn’t tell him about her, things that did still haunt her. She couldn’t hide it from him, he knew what haunted looked like, with time he could only hope that she would let him take away those sins too.

The words that fell from her red lips made him smile. Dekker was addicted to her voice, the way she said love. Those three little words that where just for him. It was the way the syllables slipped past her fangs. How France still gently lingered in her voice.

He got comfortable next to her, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her in close. The movie playing in front of them and the perfect woman next to him. So far, with just this , it was his best birthday of his life.